ARTICLES ABOUT FLOOD INSURANCE BY DATE - PAGE 2

GLOUCESTER — The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Tuesday night a coastal floodplain management plan that guides the preparedness for floods in low-lying areas of the county. The board approved the plan 6-0 — Supervisor Andy James was not present at the meeting — as presented by Emergency Services Coordinator C. Creig Moore. The floodplain management plan is instrumental in the county receiving points in a community rating system that helps decrease the cost of flood insurance for residents, Moore said.

August story helped a lot • Casey, Gloucester: Thank you for your article on Aug. 4 about flood insurance. I did not know anything about flood vents. I checked with my insurance company. They said I could have four flood vents placed in my garage. It lowered my insurance premium by three-fourths. It's taken me this long to call you because it's taken this long to get the work done. I wanted to thank you very much, and I suggest you run that article every year. Editor : So glad you found it helpful.

Village Green residents watch the weather closely. When forecasters predict thunderstorms or heavy rain, residents move their cars out of driveways and away from curbs, parking them instead along Baxter Lane or the narrow neck of Village Green Parkway that opens onto Oyster Point Road. For the past five years, the neighborhood of about 360 homes has experienced floods that turn tree-lined streets into streams, and well-manicured yards into lakes. Residents, some of whom have lived in the neighborhood since the mid-1960s when the first houses were built, say they have always expected flooding when hurricanes, tropical storms and severe nor'easters hit. But lately unnamed storms have been the culprit, sending floodwaters sloshing over curves, swamping yards and seeping into garages, crawl spaces and homes.

Focus on access Your Aug. article, "Public to get more access to bay watershed," indicates just how little access there currently is: "only 2 percent of the bay has public access points," resulting in "the world's biggest gated community. " Fort Monroe is one of those points of entry. Much of the shoreline and the beaches of Fort Monroe National Monument are now open to the public, and so is the seawall promenade on the state-owned part of the site. But if the proposal of the Fort Monroe Authority's master planners is approved, some of that access may well disappear.

By Robert Brauchle and Amanda Kerr, rbrauchle@dailypress.com | 757-247-2827 | August 4, 2013

As a retiree, Ed Harper knows he has a fixed amount of money to live on while the expenses all around him continue to slowly increase as his income remains level. The Poquoson resident worries that the cost of the flood insurance policy he paid just $100 for in 1986 - and that now costs him around $860 - will continue to rise to the point that it affects his ability to pay other bills. Harper is among the thousands of policy holders in Hampton Roads whose flood insurance rates will increase this year as changes to the National Flood Insurance Program take effect and flood maps are redrawn throughout the region.

POQUOSON - A group of around 20 Poquoson residents collectively gasped during a community meeting Thursday when a city official told them they should expect their flood insurance rates to go up by 45 percent over the next several years. The rate hike is the result of new federal legislation meant to keep FEMA, which is currently about $20 billion in the hole, financially solvent. At the mention of the higher rate, one woman in the crowd blurted, "Good grief, Charlie Brown!" Ken Somerset, floodplain manager for Poquoson, said the rate increase for most residential properties that serve as primary residences will go into effect gradually over the next four or five years unless the home is sold, the policy lapses, a new policy is purchased or the home sustains severe repeated flood losses of four claims or more.

NEWPORT NEWS - More than 100 residents of Great Oak apartments are still displaced from Aug. 25 flooding, but should be back in their homes by the end of the year, officials said. Great Oak, located near City Center, is a 143-unit Section 8 property owned and managed by the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority. The property is designed for low-income senior and disabled residents. The authority is spending about $2.9 million in taxpayer dollars renovating 114 units damaged in the flood, using a combination of loans, reserves and annual funds that flow from the federal government.

The stormwater piping infrastructure is old and inadequate and our community floods regularly when it rains. We pay our taxes on time and deserve to have the money reinvested into the infrastructure of our [neighborhoods]. Our local and state government representatives have not done their jobs. The recent storms a wake up call. If this issue is not agressively addressed, we will all be in serious trouble. Some of us already are in trouble now due to water penetration. Homeowners must make sure that they have flood insurance whether it is required or not. It will be needed.

FEMA is providing temporary financial relief to owners of properties affected by recent changes to flood risk maps. Beginning Jan. 1, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will allow owners of properties mapped into higher risk flood zones between October 2008, and Jan. 1 to forgo paying full-priced insurance premiums for a two-year period. Instead, owners will be allowed to pay lower-cost preferred risk policy rates. During the extension period, homeowners would be covered as if they were paying for the higher risk premiums that will be required after the extension ends, said Dave Bollinger, a FEMA mitigation outreach coordinator.

Let people give The Daily Press has had some wonderful news lately regarding the generous and caring acts of ordinary citizens, people who instinctively help when they learn of others basic needs. Of course, it is Christmas, but this generosity is not limited to now because Americans have a history of desiring to help and do it well. What I want to see now is our nation's leaders recognizing this, and realizing there is no need to take more and more away from the people who do this by taxing more and more.